City of Falls Church officials continued their noisy, public opposition to a proposed change in the way Richmond will deliver transportation dollars to this region, a move which has been put on hold until July 18 after a forceful reaction from a wide array of Northern Virginia regional leaders. After Vice Mayor David Snyder called the move by Gov. Bob McDonnell “an outrageous bullying tactic from Richmond for no constructive reason, whatsoever,” Snyder provided follow-up remarks, and so did Mayor Nader Baroukh at a F.C. City Council work session in City Hall last night.
Following a report from Assistant City Manager Cindy Mester on the expensive and complicated staffing requirements that would be needed to account for the divvying up of the money to individual jurisdictions instead of to a regional body, Baroukh said, “It is so illogical. The amount of time and money that has already had to be spent, it is incomprehensible. I can’t find a justification for it. It has presented a very difficult and frustration situation.”
Snyder provided more colorful rhetoric, saying “All this effort has been created to fix what wasn’t broken.” It amounts to undermining a “30 year successful regional transportation planning effort.”
